Advertising sign



'N. MOLLET.

ADVERTISING SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27, I922.

Patented June 27, 1922.

AttorneJS Massillon, in the county of Stark and UNITED STATES NICHOLASMOLLET, 0F MASSILLON, OHIO.

ADVERTISING SIGN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 27, 1922.

Application filed March 27, 1922. Serial No. 547,124.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NICHOLAS MOLLET, a citizen of the United States,residin at tate of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Advertising Signs, of which the following is aspecification.

The present .invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inthe construction of signs of that type which are primarily intended tobe used for out-door advertising, and which comprise a stiff sheet uponwhich the advertising matter is placed in combination with a framesupporting the stiff sheet and protecting the edges thereof.

Signs of this general character are very extensively used throughout thecountry for advertising purposes, and it has heretofore been customaryto fit the sign plates or sheets into rabbeted portions of the frame atthe frontthereof, and to secure the edges of the sign in the rabbetedportions of the frame by retaining strips which form a part of the frontof the frame, and must accordingly be accurately formed and neatlyapplied-in order to avoid detracting from the appearance of the finishedsign. This tends to increase the cost of the signs, and there is afurther objection that the retaining strips are comparatively thin sothat they are liable to be affected by the weather when the sign isplaced in an exposed position. Rain and moisture may also find its'wayinto the crevices around the retaining strips with the result that theedges of the sign ma be discolored.

ccording to the present invention the sign plate is applied to the framefrom the back thereof, so that the backing members and retaining stripsare not exposed to view,

and can be placed in position with a smaller degree of care.Furthermore, they are in a position where they are protected to agreater or less extent from the rain and exposure to the action of theelements, and a more durable sign is obtained.

With the above and other objects in View, the invention consists incertain constructions and arrangements of the parts, as will more fullyappear as the description proceeds, the novel features thereof beingpointed out in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention reference is to be had to thefollowing description and accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is aperspective view of a sign which is constructed in accordance with theinvention, viewing the sign from the back thereof, and showing one ofthe ends of the sign as detached from the body portion of the frame.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the sign.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional .view on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of one corner of the sign.

Figures 5 and 6 are detail views of the joint members at one corner ofthe frame.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription, and indicated in all of the views of the drawings by likereference characters.

Referring to the drawing the reference character A designates the signmember, and B the frame within which the sign member is mounted. Thesign member is usually in the form of a stiff sheet of metal,impregnated cardboard or the like, and the desired advertising matter 1is printed upon or otherwise applied to the face thereof.

, The frame B is ordinarily formed of wood and comprises side and endstrips 2 which are connected at the corners of the frame by a specialjoint. The rear edges of the side strips 2 are rabbeted at 3 to receivethe sign member A which is applied to the frame from the back thereof. Arigid form of corner joint is provided'by mitering the front and rearfaces of the ends of the strips, as indicated at 4, and providing asubstantially rectangular tongue 5 and a corresponding groove 6 betweenthe mitered portions 4. The tongue 5 of each joint member fits into thegroove 6 of the opposite joint member with. the corresponding miteredportions 4 of the joint members coming into contact with each other. Atone end of each of the frame members 2 the tongue 5 is flush with theinner face of' the rabbeted portion 3, while at the other end of theframe member the tongue 5 is offset from the said face of the rabbetedatthe same time the joint has a very neat and attractive appearance at thefront of the frame.

After the sign has been fitted in the frame from the back thereof. oneor more transversely extending backing strips 7 are applied to theframe, said strips being in direct engagement with the back of the signmember A, so as to reinforce the same and having the ends thereofreceived within the rabbeted portion 3 of the frame. Retaining strips 8are fitted in the remaining portions of the rabbeted portion of theframe, and both the backing strip and the retaining strip are secured inposition by suitable fastening members, such as the short nails 9, whichalso pass through the edge portions of the sign A. The backing andretaining members are substantially flush with the back of the frame Bso that the completed sign can be readily handled and placed inposition, and these strips are normally concealed from View andprotected from exposure to the rain and elements. The backing strips arealso useful in reinforcing large sizes of frames.

The sign can be manufactured more cheaply than the conventional form ofsign,

in which the sign plate is fitted into the frame from the front thereof,since more inexpensive material can be employed for the retainingstrips. fhe meeting ends thereof do not have to be mitered and fittedcarefully together and the sign can be assembled with a smaller amountof labor and expense. A more inexpensive grade of nails can also beemployed. since the heads thereof are not exposed at the front of theframe, and there is no need to use a brass or copper nail, as wasfrequently done in the old form of frame, owing to the fact that thenails were exposed, and iron nails would quickly rust and causediscolorization. The new form of frame has eliminatedthese severaldisadvantages, and when it is considered that these frames are producedfor advertising purposes in enormous quantities, it will be understoodthat the small saving upon each sign amounts to a very considerableamount in the aggregate where a large number of the signs aremanufactured. Furthermore, the sign will be more durable, since theexposed face of the 1frame is composed entirely of solid memers.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. An advertising sign of the character described, including a. framehaving the inner edges thereof rabbeted at the back of the frame, a signplate applied to the back of the frame and fitted in the rabbetedportion thereof. a backing strip extending across the opening of theframe and engaging the back of the sign plate to reinforce the same. theends of the backing strip being received in the rabbeted portion of theframe, retaining strips fitted in the rabbeted portion of the frame. andfastening members securing the retaining strips and backing strip inposition, the said retaining strips and backing strip beingsubstantially fiush with the back of the frame.

2. An advertising sign of the character described, including a framehaving the inner edges thereof rabbeted at the back of the frame, a signplate appliedto the back of the frame and fitted in the rabbeted portionthereof. a comparatively wide backing strip extending across the openingof the frame and engaging the back of the sign plate to reinforce thesame. the ends of the backing strip being received within the rabbetedportion of the frame, retaining stri s fitted within the rabbetedportion of t e frame, and fastening members securing the backing stripand retaining strips to the frame, said fastening members being driventhrough the edges of the sign plate.

3. An advertising sign of the character described, including a frameformed of frame members having their inner edges rabbeted at the backthereof, the meeting ends of the frame members being mitered at thefront and back thereof and provided between the mitered portions withcorresponding rectangular tongues and recesses, the back face of thetongue nearest the back of each frame member being flush with the seatprovided by the rabbeted portion of the frame member, so that acontinuous seat is provided by the rabbeted portion, a sign plateapplied to the frame from the back thereof and fitted within therabbeted portion, and retaining strips engaging the edges of the sign tohold it in engagement with the seat provided by the rabbeted portion.

In testimony whereof I affix m signature.

NICHOLAS ALLET.

